Pune professor places multiple orders on Amazon, ends up losing Rs 21 lakh in scam

IN another case of online scams, an assistant professor in Pune ended up losing around 21 lakh in a fraudulent online job scheme.

The victim was reached out to by an unknown person on a messaging platform and was offered a part-time job with an ecommerce platform to earn more money.

However, once the job started, the victim ended up losing all of his investments to the scammers over a span of several months between May 2021 and December 2022.

According to local news, the scam started with a message on WhatsApp. The 42-year-old assistant professor, Sachhidanand Ramdas Satpute, residing in Kondhwa, received a message from an unknown individual who offered him a part-time job with Amazon. To get further details, the message even included details of a contact person named Rekha Ranjan, along with her mobile number.

To find out more about the offer, Satpute contacted Ranjan where she explained to him what the job was about and detailed that her firm is affiliated with Amazon and would offer him commissions for placing orders through their website.

Thinking it to be a legitimate offer and in the hope of earning some extra money, Satpute agreed to participate. He was then directed to join Telegram for further conversations. However, to create his profile on Telegram for the job, Ranjan asked Satpute to pay Rs 1,000. To Satpute's surprise, he later received Rs 1,300 back in his account, which was said to be the return of his money with the initial commission.

Later, Satpute was introduced to another Telegram user, Raju, who explained the tasks to him. Satpute diligently followed his instructions and completed various tasks which included ordering from Amazon and investing Rs 2,000 and Rs 3,000 for different tasks. In return, he received Rs 3,000 and Rs 6,500, respectively, in his Telegram account.

As Satpute continued to invest, his earnings grew, eventually reaching a staggering Rs 6.75 lakhs. Believing he had made a significant profit, he decided to withdraw the money. However, the fraudster informed him that he needed to complete more tasks before withdrawing his earnings. Satpute continued to invest, only to realise later that he had been scammed.

Later, he reached out to the police and registered his case under Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code.

However, such cases of scams are not just reported in 2020; the rate has increased significantly in recent years. Many victims around the country have shared their ordeal and how they were cheated. Scammers are offering people part-time jobs, such as rating YouTube videos and hotels. Once someone falls for their trick, they make the victim invest money and later steal everything. Here is how to be aware of the scam:

Be wary of unsolicited job offers, especially those that promise high pay for little work.
Do your research on the company before applying for a job. Look for online reviews and check the company's website and social media pages.

Never give out your personal information, such as your Social Security number or bank account number, to a potential employer unless you are sure that the job offer is legitimate.

Be suspicious of any job that requires you to pay upfront fees or to invest your own money.

Never click on links in emails or messages from unknown senders.